Tubli Bay project work halted

Manama, June 6, 2007

All further development on the reclaimed land in Bahrain's Tubli Bay was yesterday (June 5) suspended for six months until a new coastal line is drawn.

The Central Municipal Council aims to ensure that the bay's shores, which are in a protected zone under a Royal decree issued last August, are open to the public and are not part of private property.

Councillors also instructed the Central Municipality to halt any building licences in the area until the end of the year to determine which land would be bought from their owners to be turned into public shores.

Under the United Nations (UN) regulations, development should be away from public beaches by at least 100 metres, which councillors say they were trying to ensure.

They decided to halt Dadabhai Group's BD20 million waterfront housing and development project, which is close to the bay's shores.

A committee comprising representatives from Central and Manama municipal councils, Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry, and Survey and Land Registration Bureau will be formed to draw the new coastal line.

Acting Central Municipal Council chairman Abbas Mahfoodh told councillors at their meeting that the Dadabhai Group would be able to start work on the project whenever the committee finishes drawing the new coastal line.

'Its project will be put on hold until the whole coastal area is drawn and then we will give it permission to start construction.'

The issue was discussed at the meeting after the Survey and Land Registration Bureau urged the council to give the new project the go ahead.

The bureau told councillors in a letter read at their meeting that the investor had agreed to give 10 metres from his land for the public coast to allow him to build six-storeys instead of three.

The project was scheduled to begin at the end of October last year, but has been postponed until the coastal line and the bay size are decided. The Royal decree determines the bay's size at 13.5 km.

The six-storey project will include 216 apartments, ranging from 950sqft to 2,550sqft in size. Group chairman Mohammed Dadabhai was unavailable for comment yesterday. -TradeArabia News Service